


Living the High Life

by Laialda



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: A bit of angst as well, Attempt at Humor atleast, Comedy, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-05
Updated: 2014-02-19
Packaged: 2018-01-11 05:57:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1169524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laialda/pseuds/Laialda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While traveling with Donna, Ten accidentally ingests an alien hallucinogenic. Forced into an awkward situation with a suddenly happy & besotted Time Lord, she struggles with a decision that may involve breaking his hearts all over again. Pairing:Ten/Rose</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A gift gone awry

**Author's Note:**

> I suppose it's a blessing and a curse what happened as I've not written anything in months, but I popped over to the summer fic-a-thon onthen_theres_us on LJ to see some of what people had done and one of the unused prompts just started to fill in my mind and this poured out. Summary adapted from the original prompt by coffeecupcakesx.
> 
> Should only be 5 parts with Ten and Donna as our main characters. Pairing is Doctor/Rose though so if you're not a fan of them then you may want to turn back.

On any other planet, the sight of a woman dragging a man down a trodden dirt path of the village might have been an unusual one. But for the Qu'lix tribe of Viridian Five, these things often happened at half three and they barely gave the pair a glance – much less offer the muttering red haired woman any assistance.

"Would only be polite you said. Don't want to make enemies on the first peaceful planet you finally managed to bring me to you said," the red hair women sniped as she came to a stop in front of a large blue box. Releasing the body of a man clad all in brown from her hold around his torso, she rummaged in her pocket before quickly pulling out a key and inserting it into the box. "You said it was always trouble," the woman remarked to her self with a resigned sigh, "Should've known that was going to apply to the good places as well." With a twist of the key, Donna Noble pushed open the door of the barmy blue space ship she currently called home before bending down to take hold of her companion's arms, and resume dragging him along.

"As soon as you wake up, Spaceman, I'm getting you to write down all the things that can knock your skinny arse out like this _ever again!_ You hear me?" she scolded with a few grunts and labored breaths as she pulled the man's dead weight up the inside ramp; dropping his arms once she'd placed him next to the console of his beloved ship. Panting slightly from the exertion of a day that for once did not include running, Donna worked on catching her breath as she walked back down the ramp to lock the blue doors. She returned to stand by his side, glaring at him for the inconvenience of having to drag him back here, even when he wasn't conscious enough to know she was doing it.

With a final deep breath Donna resumed the familiar half bent position once more, wrapping her arms under his properly this time, and giving a grunt as she felt the weight of the Doctor's prone form strain her back. "Now where is that bleedin' med bay you nattered on about? Better not be far or you'll have to just deal with a sore backside from lying on this grating. Would serve you right if I did just leave you here after the pain my back is feeling, you big dumbo."

* * *

_Sometime around noon earlier that day_

"Oh come now, where's your sense of adventure gone Donna Noble?" The Doctor gave her a wide close lipped smile that she'd come to recognize as him teasing her. She pursed her lips at him and placed her hands on her hip giving him her best 'You are in no way cute or clever' face.

"Left it on the Tardis thanks. You'll do well to remember that you said I wouldn't be needing it here. Just a bit of fun yeah? A nice _pleasant_ day?" Donna crossed her arms in front of her chest now as a physical testament to her refusal.

The Doctor's smile started to grow into a grin for the briefest of moments before he replied, "Exactly! A perfectly pleasant planet – oh I like that alliteration there – and turning down such hospitality would be down right rude, and I know a thing or two about being rude-"

"Oh, I am well aware of that."

"-so you'll just have to take my word on it when I say that refusing to partake of the p'linou could very well lead to us being chased out quite angrily on your pleasant no running day." Acting like he hadn't heard her interjection, the Doctor gracefully accepted the wooden bowl from the loin cloth wearing blue skinned alien, and held it before her now. She glared at the contents for a moment before directing the look back to the Doctor where it belonged.

"I still say it looks like moldy porridge with berries and can't taste pleasant in any way," she stated, but the Doctor remained smiling and hopeful as he waited like he had all the time in the world for her to stick her fingers in the goop – really now, was a spoon that hard to invent? – and eat the nasty looking plynew off 'em.

"Now you're just exaggerating Donna. It smells nowhere near as bad as all that."

The almost naked alien who'd been holding the bowl before spoke up as her hesitance drew out, "We only wish to share happiness, honorable Donna. Please, partake with us."

Donna pursed her lips again as she flicked a glance between the bowl and the Doctor once more. He smiled back at her, "When in Rome." She wanted to bite out a remark about how well that trip had gone for them, but she knew that really would be rude and tasteless so she let out a sigh of defeat. Really, the worse that could happen is she might be sick and it would just serve the silly spaceman right if he had to deal with her then.

Lifting a hand over the edge of the bowl, the Doctor smiled wildly at her as he raised his own towards the mixture with her. "That's more like it! Have to embrace the cultures Donna. Why travel if you don't want to experience new things, yeah?"

"Yes, yes, you don't have to rub it in," Donna mumbled and she couldn't help returning his smile a little as now that she had resigned herself to eating the mush, she had to it admit it was a bit exciting to try something so strange and unfamiliar. The food was thankfully warm as Donna stuck a single digit into it and scooped up what she deemed to be a respectful taste before sticking it in her mouth. She made a surprised noise once it hit her taste buds as the dish was quite sweet with the berry she'd snagged adding a nice bitter touch to balance it. Not bad at all really!

Looking back at the Doctor, whose two fingers in his mouth implied a much more adventurous taste; she could see that brain of his analyzing everything as he gave off a pleasant hum. "Oh that's really quite lovely isn't it? Base grain sweetened by whatever that moldy looking plant is, similar chemical composition your sucrose plants on Earth there, and some local berry mixed in with it. Brilliant addition that. Really crunchy, and tangy and I'm not quite sure I've ever had it before." He went in for another heaping two fingered scoop, being sure to snag lots of berries, and continued analyzing the components of the dish. "It tastes so familiar though, what is it?" he spoke entirely to himself but the blue alien on her right took at as an address to him and happily answered the Doctor's question.

"They are not yet fully ripened p'linef berries, from our sacred fields," Bluie smiled, "Used only for making p'linou to share the happiness of their essence with our guests."

The Doctor's eyebrows rose at this revelation as he plucked one more berry from the dish, clearly comparing it to a memory as he nodded in agreement with the man's words. "P'linef berry, p'linef, p'linef - where have I heard that before?" His face scrunched up as he recalled more of that memory, tugging on his ear for a moment before he froze so completely that Donna began to panic ever so slightly.

"Doctor…" she ventured, "Is everything alright?"

His gaze snapped back to the present then and he glanced at Donna before returning the bowl with a small smile and a bow. "Thanks ever so much, really, it was just lovely; lots of happiness our way to be sure. In fact, I think we should respond in kind, don't you, Donna? Quick pop back into the Tardis to find a suitable little gift for them eh?"

Donna didn't get a chance to reply however as the Doctor had grabbed her wrist and quickly not quite ran out of the hut they'd been standing about it. "Oi!" she objected and promptly yanked her arm out of his grasp just a few meters away from the hut, "Where do you get off man handling me like that?"

"Look I'm sorry Donna, but we've got to get back to the Tardis as quickly as possible," the Doctor insisted, turning back to place a hand on her shoulder now instead to guide her along but she just rolled out of it and blocked his path instead.

"I'm sure whatever you have in mind to give them will be lovely and not going anywhere so why don't you just explain to me what's going on instead before I smack you one," she said.

The Doctor ran his hands through his hair in frustration once before blinking and giving a little stumble. Concern flooding her, Donna moved to steady him, but he brushed her away. "Doctor?"

"I'm fine we just, we need to get back to the Tardis, quick as we can," he insisted. He stumbled once again after just a few meters and didn't lose his balance, but Donna hovered near by all the same.

"Why?" she inquired as they walked, "What is it? What's wrong? You went all weird once you heard about the berries. Are they-" She gasped and stopped before him once more, "Are they poison or somethin'? Am I gonna die?"

The Doctor blinked several times as if trying to focus on her while giving her a look as if she'd just dribbled on her shirt. "What? What? No! Why would you think – no we'll be fine. Well. When I say we I mean you, in the immediate future anyway, you should be fine, no harm at all, but I. _I_ need to get to the Tardis med bay."

He tried to walk forward again, but only got a few steps towards Donna before swaying again. "Oh my god, are _you_ poisoned?"

"What is with your sudden obsession with thinking I've been poisoned?" he inquired; his squinting at her in confusion.

"Well pardon me if I happened to get concerned with you suddenly acting like you're drunk and can barely walk five feet without needing to have a rest," she scolded him.

Waving off her concern again, the Doctor continued on his path towards the Tardis, "Which is why we need to hurry, Donna, as I'd rather not pass out in the middle of the street." While not pleased with his brush off and unsure whether a dirt path really could be described as a street by any definition, Donna kept pace with him as they slowly trekked towards the Tardis. Hovering closer as his pauses and swaying increased.

"So what is it about these berries then? Why are they affecting you like this?" she inquired, hoping that by making him talk he'd be able to concentrate properly.

"The Time Lords, we, we used those berries in certain medicinal treatments…but rarely, very rarely, as their potency often produced…hallucinogenic results. The flavor is dramatically diluted in the larger ripe ones, which I've had before… hence why I didn't recognize them, or I wouldn't have eaten them in the first place." His response was filled with gaps and pauses and he attempted to fight whatever the berries were doing to him. Certainly explained why he was having trouble focusing if he was hopped up something that sounded like Novocain.

That thought made her pause and she replayed what he's just said back in her mind. "Hang on, hallucinogen? You gonna start seein' things?"

"Possibly, which is why, why we need to get back," he swayed once more and didn't push Donna away when she caught him from the side. "Back to, to the Tardis. I. I can counteract their effect. We just…" But whatever it was they needed to do she would never know as the Doctor went from being a constant pressure on her side to a dead weight in her arms.

"Oh bloody hell," she murmured and shifted the alien into a more manageable position with her arms around his chest. Donna noted while she did so that for all his string bean size he wasn't half heavy, and that she was now quite grateful he wasn't larger. Looking over her shoulder towards the direction they were headed, she could just make out the blue box shape that was the Tardis about one hundred meters down the way. "Of course," she moaned and hefted the Doctor up as much as she could, though still dragging most of his lower half in the dirt, and began to slowly make her way towards the spaceship.

* * *

Proving there was some claim to the Doctor's talk of his ship being sentient; Donna found a medical looking room that was most likely what the Doctor was talking about immediately off the hallway after the console room. Giving a mental thanks to the ship, she hefted the Doctor onto what looked like a dentist chair that was practically flush with the floor. The little foot lever next to it serving the hoped for purpose of raising the flat seat off the ground once she had the Doctor situated.

With this task done, Donna was now at a loss for what she was supposed to do with the unconscious Time Lord. He'd said it wasn't poison, but his reaction wasn't terribly reassuring so far. Seeing a stethoscope near by, Donna did the only thing she could think of and at least checked his hearts. Carefully placing the metal disc on one side and then the other, Donna sighed and placed the tool back on the counter where she'd found it.

"Well they're both beatin', if a little fast I suppose, but it's not exactly like I know what I'm doing now, is it? Who would I ask anyway?" she spoke out loud to herself. An idea came to her then and she sheepishly checked to make sure the Doctor was really out before clearing her throat and standing a bit straighter. Thinking of all those Star Trek episodes her granddad watched, Donna addressed the room, "Computer, or erm, ship. The Doctor 's eaten these berries err, plynew or plynet or somthin'. Can you show me what I need to give 'em to err, counteract it?"

She waited for a breath for something, anything, to happen once she spoke. But the ship remained as silent as ever. "Right," she sighed, "Don't know why I thought that would work. His madness must be catching."

Huffing in frustration, Donna crossed her arms and looked down at the alien next to her. He'd said she wouldn't be affected by these things but he'd been wrong before hadn't he? What if she ended up going loopy like he might? Donna shook that thought away. No, she had no reason not to trust him about this. She was just panicking was all. 'Course if the bloody alien actually talked to her about the important things and didn't natter on about nothing all the time she wouldn't be standing here worrying about bugger all now would she?

Just as she was starting to gain steam about all the things she would be giving the man an earful about when he woke, the alien in question abruptly took in a large gulp of air and sat straight up. Anger was temporarily washed away with concern as his eyes, wide and alert, looked around the room with a clarity she hadn't been expecting given his earlier comment. "Doctor?" she steadied the man with her hands on his shoulders, "You alright? Nothin' seems weird or anything does it?"

"What?" he blinked and looked at her now, "No, everything seems fine. Should there be a problem? Is that why you brought me here?"

They stared at each other in apparently equal confusion as Donna tried to decide if he really was just fine, but…shouldn't he remember why they'd needed to come to the med bay? The again it would be like him not to mention that memory loss was another effect of those damned berries. Something was different about him though, of that she was sure. Something in his face maybe? Perhaps she should try to jog his memory? "Yeah, you said the berries might make you crazy, or see things, or something. I don't know. Can't you ever just warn a person properly before the problem happens?"

He smiled so openly at her then, like he was sharing some personal joke with her, and she'd never seen him look so, well, _happy_ that she couldn't even build up her anger so that she could dig into him about all those things she'd thought of a moment ago. The transformation that smile brought about his face was nothing compared to what he did next. With nothing but reverent tenderness, the Doctor removed her hands from his shoulders and placed the lightest of kisses on the back of each of them, like an apology. It was completely innocent and something she'd done to reassure family in the past, but right now, with that look of, of, such _warmth_ in his gaze, Donna couldn't help but feel like this was suddenly the most intimate moment of her life. "Time Lord. It'll take more than a few berries to muck up my advanced biology, Rose Tyler."

God this felt so wrong on so many levels. This had to be the effect he was talking about with the berries. The Doctor was never like this with her, or even Martha. In fact the only person she could see him acting like this would have been- Donna's jaw dropped slightly in shock as she processed what he'd said not a few seconds ago. "Rose," she stated, "You called me Rose."

The Doctor continued to smile at her and she had to fight not to squirm at the intensity of having his entire focus solely on her, "Well that's who you were last I checked, unless…you had a different name you want me to call you?"

There was a slight bashfulness to his gaze now and she felt him intertwine his fingers with her like it was expected, habit even. Oh but this wasn't half embarrassing. By force of will alone she kept the blush from rising to her cheeks and made herself respond. Focus, focus on the problem Donna. His brains addled and he thinks you're his lost love or girlfriend – and she really did **not** want to find out just how far that relationship had progressed – you've got to snap him out of it.

"It's not that. It's just," she hesitated, remembering the pained look on his face when she'd first met him and he'd lost her, but steeled her never and ploughed on, "I'm not her. I'm not Rose, Doctor. It's those berries, alright? You're seeing things."

He stood up then, removing one of his hands from hers and gave Donna an intense look over. There was a squinting about his eyes at one point that gave Donna hope but it was quickly replaced by that smile he'd been giving her again. The Doctor moved into her personal space and lifted a hand up to caress her cheek, having the opposite effect of what he no doubt intended as she tensed under his unfamiliar touch. "I'll run a few scans on myself while your sleeping if you like but I assure you, there is nothing wrong with me, and you, you are most definitely Rose. My lovely pink and yellow, Rose," he said her name like it was a caress and salvation all in one and Donna was so torn between shock, embarrassment, and confusion that she could only stand there as the Doctor leaned in and gave her another one of those feather light kisses just to the side of her mouth.

There was a grin on his face a mile wide when he pulled back from her flustered face before he bounded off with, if possible, double the amount of energy he normally displayed. "Come on then," he beckoned on the way out, "I'm famished and there's no better cure for that than some good old London chips!"

Donna meekly nodded as her brain was still trying to not only process what was going on but just how different the Doctor was. The Doctor beamed at her again with that single minded focus before he dashed off ahead of her. What was she to do? A large part of her wanted to just smack some sense in to him as this kind of attention was unwanted and unwarranted...but that just seemed so cruel when he was clearly so happy; happier than she ever remembered seeing him really. It occurred to Donna quite suddenly then that while she would do everything in her power to set him back to rights again…doing so would most likely turn him back into that shell of a man she was beginning to realize he'd become in Rose's absence.

And it broke her heart that little bit more for him.

After taking a minute or two to gather her emotions, Donna came up with an idea. She flipped open her cell and pulled up the only person she could think of that could possibly help her. The call rang twice before the person on the other end finally answered.

" _Hey Donna. Didn't expect to hear from you so soon. Everything alright?"_

"No, everything is not flippin' alright," she hissed into the phone, "The Doctor's gone bonkers, Martha, he thinks," she swallowed her nervousness. "He thinks I'm _Rose._ "


	2. A matter of perspective

Martha Jones was having an excellent Saturday afternoon, if she did say so herself. Tom was on one of his tours helping impoverished towns in third world countries, her parents were off on an impromptu holiday, and her brother and sister were otherwise occupied as well. Rather than spend the day working on wedding plans as she knew she should, Martha decided she had earned a well deserved break on this rare family free day. By one o'clock, she had already taken in a tour at the National History Museum, enjoyed a relaxing trip to the salon, and was just contemplating where she would like to dine out for lunch when her mobile rang.

Given that she knew her family was busy that day, she pulled the mobile out of her pocket with no small amount of curiosity; smiling when she read the name on the display. It seemed oddly appropriate that her new friend and current companion to the Doctor would call her after she'd spent the morning thinking about time at the museum. Still, as she flipped the phone open, she couldn't help but worry slightly. The Doctor and Donna had been on Earth no more than a few weeks back and while the pair of them had chatted by mobile since their departure, it was often to talk about whatever trip the Doctor had been able to muck up for Donna. Even if that was the case though, it would take more then that to ruin her good mood and all around lovely day.

"Hey Donna," Martha greeted brightly, "Didn't expect to hear from you so soon. Everything alright?"

"No, everything is not flippin' alright," Donna hissed into her ear, "The Doctor's gone bonkers, Martha he thinks..." Martha held her breath during Donna's pause, trying not to assume the worst. Surely Donna would sound more than just peeved if the Doctor had _actually_ gone mad?

When her new friend replied though, the anger from a moment before had been replaced with a type of anguish, "He thinks I'm _Rose._ " Martha could feel her brain actually shut down for a moment as she attempted to process what Donna had just said.

Five seconds later the best she could offer up was a disbelieving, "What?"

"Oh you know who I mean," Donna huffed now, "'Her name was Rose.' 'I lost her.' Used to travel about with him? That Rose."

Martha felt the shadow of her old jealousy towards the woman rise up at Donna's words, but they were easily swept aside. She'd long since gotten over her crush on the Doctor, and jealously over a woman that was, by the Doctor's own words, impossible to get to was just silly. "Yeah," Martha finally felt her brain kick into gear once more now that the shock had faded, "I know her, or I know who you mean anyway. What do you mean he thinks you're her? How is that possible?"

"After all the traveling we've done to date, I'm beginning to wonder what isn't possible," Donna remarked, "Short of it is though that we were suppose to visit this nice peaceful planet, got treated to some nasty looking porridge as a welcoming gift, but _of course_ the berries in it are some type of medicine on whatever planet Spaceman comes from, and he barely gets out a warning that they might cause him to hallucinate when he up and passes out on me! I had to drag that streak of nothing all the way back to the Tardis. Awkward limbs and all! And what do I get as thanks? Himself thinking I'm his lost love and acting like personal space is not a concept that exists in that brain of his!"

"Wow," Martha blinked before developing a small smirk on her face from Donna's rant, "Tell me how you really feel then, yeah?" Sensing this might take a bit to resolve, Martha walked over to a secluded bit of wall that she could lean against and talk on the phone in relative privacy.

Donna sighed, "Sorry, I didn't mean to go on like that it's just…I don't know much about this Rose, just that he lost her, and if you could just see how he acts now that he thinks I'm her…"

"Does he remember you at all?" Martha asked. Her mind had already been brainstorming what could be wrong with the Doctor from Donna's limited information, and she didn't want to make any assumptions without gathering more facts. Her medical knowledge of a Time Lord was limited of course but, that didn't mean she couldn't pinpoint a drug that had similar effects for humans based off his symptoms.

A frustrated huff came from her ear piece. "I just told you, he thinks I'm Rose," Donna stated.

"Yes, I know that. What I mean is, did he ask about you, Donna, separately, or is he acting like you're not even there at all?" Martha pressed.

"I'm not really sure," Donna admitted slowly, "He hasn't asked about me personally yet, but he wasn't in here for long before running off saying he wanted to get chips from London. Probably shouldn't really chat much longer come to think of it. I get the feeling he'll be wondering why I've not followed along after."

Knowing it would be best for her to see the Doctor's symptoms first hand; she encouraged Donna to go along with that plan; telling her the current date and time to try and aim for. "If he's taking you to the chip shop that he liked to visit with me, then I can be there in thirty," Martha informed her, pushing off her bit of wall and making towards the nearest bus stop. "Call or text me when you land so we can meet."

"Alright, I can manage that," Donna confirmed.

"And Donna. Don't try and force him out of the illusion," Martha warned, "People that suffer from visual hallucinations aren't typically thinking properly, alright? I don't know how it is for Time Lords, but if they're anything like humans then he could react violently if you act too strangely or try to physically pull him out of his delusion."

There was a long pause of silence from the other end that concerned Martha, but before she could voice her fears of what Donna might try, her friend spoke up. "I'll try," the woman replied, "Telling him I wasn't Rose didn't do anything earlier of course, but I've no idea how to act like his Rose, and I'm not sure I can take it if he gets all handsy with me. Did you know her at all?

The old Martha would've given almost anything to be in that position of course, but now she just felt pity and concern for her newest friend. "Never met her either," Martha informed her, "Can't say I know much about her except what I learned from-" An idea came to her then and she almost hit herself for not thinking of it sooner. Seeing the bus pull up to the stop, she started jogging slightly so she could catch it and quickly wrapped up her chat with Donna. "Look I've got another call to make, but hopefully I'll see you in a bit. Bye."

* * *

Donna frowned as she closed her phone. It wasn't much to go with, but it was certainly a start. Not wanting her absence to be noticed, she quickly made her way to the console room. It was further down the hall than when she'd brought the Doctor inside about an hour ago, but she didn't think about it for long as the Doctor had turned to look at her as soon as she walked in.

His smile was wide, and the joy of her just walking in the room was reflected in his eyes. Donna couldn't think of any time a man had actually looked at her like that before, and it was with a pang to her heart that she acknowledged that she really still hadn't. The smile she offered back seemed pale and forced by comparison, but the Doctor didn't seem to think so. "Come along Ms. Tyler," he beckoned her, drawing out the title so that it buzzed teasingly, "Saved my favorite navigator a seat right up front." The Doctor gave the captain's chair a light pat that made Donna smirk in amusement.

"Right, 'cause it's not like it isn't the _only_ chair in the whole room or anything," she retorted, giving his form a wide berth before plopping herself down in said chair.

"All part of my master design," the Doctor grinned back before giving her a cheeky wink. Donna had to bite her lip to keep from out right laughing. Was this how it had been for them? All teasing and smiles? It gave her the distinct feeling that they'd been one of those nauseatingly happy couples from the outside. Still, it certainly explained why he felt his little comments and jokes were cute. Rose had _clearly_ been his enabler in that regard.

Thankfully, further thoughts on the Doctor's relationship was cut off as the man in question began a slightly more energetic dance around the console as the ship began to take flight. Having no idea how to get the Doctor to land on the date she need them to go in order to meet Martha left her with quietly pleading with the ship to get them where they needed to be. Asking in the med bay hadn't done her much good earlier, but she was willing to give this communicating with the ship one more go after having a room moved around while she'd been in it.

There was a severe shift in gravity that left Donna giving out a yelp of surprise as she was thrown from her position on the chair – only to be swiftly caught by the Doctor's arms. The position he held was not a stable one though, and as he pulled one last lever, the pair of them ended up crashed on the floor; Donna secured on top of him by a firm grip on her hips. All she could think about was how she _really_ hoped that was one of his boney hips sticking her in the side as he winked saucily at her again. "What'd I tell you, all part of the plan."

Donna was frozen by the fact that he was actually flirting with her long enough for him to lean up towards her face for a kiss. Alarms went off in her mind, and she quickly rolled off the alien with a forced laugh, "So you did." She brushed off imaginary dust as she stood, reigning in her mess of emotions as she did so. A glance over at the Doctor showed his confused form looking up at her from the grating, and Donna grasped for anything to help change the topic. "I believe you, uh, said something about chips," she offered up with a mental cringe. This was going to be much harder than she thought if he kept putting her in these situations.

"Right," the Doctor leapt off the floor in one smooth motion, "I know better than to get between you and your chips." The smile he gave her wasn't as large as some of his others, but had an upbeat note to it that made her feel better about her topic change. "Off we go then," he remarked as he moved past her down the ramp and opened the door. As Donna stepped out behind him, closing the door as she did, she almost jumped out of her skin when she felt his chilly hand intertwine with hers. Right, well that answered one of her questions from earlier. Still, this wasn't bad. Hand holding. Fine, she could go with that. Kissing? …well he'd better not try it again was all she had to say about that.

As they walked, Donna tried her best to figure out what the date was. A few blocks down, a man on the corner reading the paper made her sigh with relief. She was never going to call that crazy ship of his silly or inferior ever again. It was just the day she need it to be. The Doctor was rambling on about something or other about London as the walked the short distance to the chippy, and Donna did her best to smile and nod along where appropriate. He seemed to be buying her act for the most part, but there were a few occasions where he would shoot her an inquisitive look like she wasn't reacting quite like he thought she should.

By the time they got a table in the chippy, Donna was finally able to glance at a clock to see what time it was. Half one. Martha should already be here then. With the Doctor leaving to place their order, she did her best to casually look around the place. It was just past the lunch rush but still fairly packed, and Donna found herself twisting about in her seat to try and see around everyone. Sadly, no view of her friend could be found by the time the Doctor, orders in hand, returned a few minutes later with a smile that clearly said he was right pleased with himself.

"Here we are Rose," he placed her styrofoam container down with a flourish, "One order of hot chips. Even got the newest batch fresh from the fryer."

Donna did her best not to scowl down at what she was guessing was Rose's favorite food. Food that was likely to go to her already big enough hips thanks. Giving the Doctor her best smile, she opened her container and popped one of the greasy bits of potato in her mouth. There was no need to fake her sound of appreciation at that first bite as Donna had to give the Doctor credit, these were brilliant chips. His beaming smile was back in place as he dug into his food as well, liberally applying vinegar after his first few bites. Between the food and the busy atmosphere of the place, Donna was finally able to relax a bit as she didn't feel the need to put up an appearance for the first time in a few hours.

This was of course when Martha decided to slide up from behind her and nearly scare her out of her seat.

"Rose!" The woman smiled widely, "Fancy running into you here. How are you?"

Donna held a hand on her chest to steady herself, "God Martha. Give a girl some warning next time would you?"

"Sorry, I couldn't resist," Martha teased, even going so far as to steal one of her chips. Donna did nothing to hide the scowl she gave her friend. There was no need for Martha to play it up this much, was there?

"Friend of yours?" the Doctor inquired, and Donna looked at him for the first time since Martha had shown up. He was smiling pleasantly and looking at Martha with a casual curiosity. There was absolutely no hint of recognition at all.

"Er, yeah," Donna offered lamely, "My mate, Martha. Martha this is the Doctor."

Martha grinned mischievously, "Oh this is your Doctor eh? Don't know why you don't bring him around more often; he seems like a bit of alright to me."

"Martha!" Donna scolded her and she was about to rebuke her under her breath for taking things too far…when she caught sight of the Doctor out of the corner of her eye. He was actually preening from the complement! Donna felt her jaw drop for a moment before she gathered her wits. Right, now…what wasthe best way to get the Doctor away from them so they could chat about how to fix things.

Figuring it was best to give Martha a taste of her own medicine, Donna batted at her friend's arm, "I'll thank you to keep your hands to yourself, and I'm not just talking about my chips."

Martha smiled and held her hands up in surrender before looking over at the Doctor, "I know I'm barging in on your lunch Doctor, but is it alright if I steal Rose for a little while? We haven't seen each other in a while, thanks to all that traveling you take her on, and we have got some gossip to catch up with."

She caught Donna's eye as she raised her left hand for her to see, and it took only a few seconds for her to catch on to the one sure fire way to get rid of any bloke. "Oh my god you're engaged!" she gasped dramatically before pulling her friend into a hug, "You have to tell me all about it. Who is he? What's he like?"

The Doctor made a small grimace, though he hid it quickly, before standing up to leave. "Right, Rose, I'll just be…," he made a vague waving motion with his hand towards where she knew the Tardis was parked, "fixing things for a bit, but feel free to stay and chat."

Donna watched as his mask of nonchalance fell back into place at his acceptance of having to leave her side and after seeing him at his happiest these past few hours, she decided to throw him a bone. She quickly stood, blocking his path, "Thanks Doctor. I won't make you wait long." Then, before she could chicken out on it, she rocked forward on her toes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. His face was lit with that wide smile again once she pulled back, which after a moment he then turned on Martha, giving her a slight tiling of his body over the table in a mock bow.

"Lovely to meet you," he remarked in parting before making his way out of the chip shop.

Once he was out of her line of sight, Donna slumped back into her chair. "Please tell me you have better news than I have to pretend to be Rose for the rest of my life, cause I don't think I can take it," she begged, munch on some of the now cold chips, "I'm already gonna need to soak for a week just to feel clean again with the way he's been acting with me." Donna had a dreaded suspicion that hand holding and kisses on the cheek would not last her long if that display in the console room was anything to go by.

Martha moved to sit across from her while she'd moped, and the sad look on her face did nothing to reassure Donna's fears. "I can't be exactly sure," Martha started slowly, "But from what you've told me and how he was acting, it sounds like the effects of those berries for Time Lords are similar to diphenhydramine for humans. Visual, audio, and reinforced - thanks to your physical presence - tangible hallucinations. 'Course I've no idea if it's exactly the same or not but if it is, then you're looking at no more than few days until it works completely out of his system." Donna watched her pick off the last few chips before giving a soft chuckle, "I do not pity what you might have to go through until then, 'cause you were right you know. He's just so…"

"Happy?" Donna offered and Martha nodded in agreement, "I know. It's the only thing keeping me from slapping him if he tries to get handsy with me like he did earlier."

Martha's eyes widened, "He tried to-"

"Oi!" Donna broke her off with a scowl and a pointed finger, "Nothing that filthy I'll thank you! I could just do with less of his intimate touches and attempts to kiss me is all."

"I don't know," Martha smirked with a mysterious twinkle in her eye, "He's not a bad kisser. You might like it."

Donna's face screwed up in disgust at the idea before shaking her head, "Mad Martha is what you are. Don't know how you could ever fancy that man." Giving a sigh she looked back across at her friend, "So is there any good news you can give me? I've no idea how to act like Rose, and I know he could tell something was off when we were walking over. I don't think I can do this for more than a few hours, let alone days."

Her friend smiled widely at her and stood up from the table, motioning for Donna to follow, "I do actually." Curious as to where they could be going, Donna was on Martha's heels as the young woman led her out of the chippy and in the opposite direction of the Tardis. "Remember how I said I don't know much about Rose?" Martha began, continuing when she saw Donna nod in acknowledgement, "It's not 'cause the Doctor never mentioned her when I was aboard. She was the ghost that haunted all our interactions really. Things like, 'Rose would know what to do' you know?"

Donna scoffed, "I would have smacked him if he said something rude like that to me."

Martha sent her a quick sad smile before looking ahead again. "I suppose I should've yeah but, anyway, I didn't learn much about her when we were traveling. What I do know," she turned to push open the door of a pub that she'd led them to, "I learned after I came back to finish my doctorate and had a few meet ups with another acquaintance of the Doctor's."

"Really?" Donna asked, surprised that Martha had even met another of the Doctor's companions. If she hadn't been introduced to Martha, or told what little she knew about Rose, Donna wasn't sure she ever would've known the Doctor had traveled with anyone else before.

Her fellow companion smiled and stopped before a booth in the back of the pub, gesturing an arm at the sole occupant inside. The man wore a blue coat of some sort and was relaxing with his arms over the back of the booth cushion. When she locked eyes with him, he shot her a grin that caused butterflies to jolt around inside of her. Strong chin, devilish good looks, gorgeous eyes, and a firm build from what she could see – now _he_ was a bit of alright.

"Hi," he almost purred at her, extending a hand for her to grasp, "I'm Captain Jack Harkness."


	3. The Art of Companionship

If there was ever an upside to this whole mess the Doctor had gotten her into this time, Donna Noble had decided that Jack Harkness was it. He was charming with just the right amount of flirt to make a girl feel wanted, all wrapped in an other worldliness appeal that the Doctor just didn't hold for her for whatever reason – a reason Donna was not about to question anytime soon either, thank you very much. This was a bloke she would've happily pretended to be involved with for a few days, and from the openly flirtatious remarks he made, she doubted some crazy alien berry would be required anyway. After a few minutes of introductions and polite chit chat though, he jumped right into the heart of her problem.

"So the Doctor thinks you're Rose," he stated more than questioned before taking a sip of his beer, "I have to admit, I both envy and pity you at the same time." It was accompanied by a wink that left Donna confused about her assessment on him. Surely with all he was putting out he wasn't a poof? No gay man could exude that much sexual charisma and not hit off on her detector.

Martha scoffed at his remark and gave him a playful shove, "Really now Jack, there is a time and a place yeah?"

"You can't tell me you weren't thinking the same thing," Jack smirked back at her.

Her friend didn't return the teasing manner however and just gave the captain a thin smile, "If you'd asked me over a year ago maybe, but now?" She shook her head and Jack held up his hands in surrender.

"Alright, fair point," he offered before leaning towards the doctor with a sly smile, "The offer is still on the table about you and Tom though sweetheart. You're a cute couple and I'm a _fantastic_ host. A fun time would be had by all." Donna could feel her brow furrow in confusion and her mouth drop open slightly. Did Jack just proposition what she thought he did? Maybe she was reading too much into that statement…

Martha's laugh didn't help her confusion any and, catching Donna's confused look across from the table finally, only led to a few more chuckles before the woman offered up an apology. "Sorry Donna. I forgot how Jack can seem upon first meeting him. He talks a good game, but he's harmless really."

"I think I feel insulted Ms. Jones. Talking implies that I have no follow through, and I can give you _several_ references who will assure you that is not the case," Jack disputed, sending that smile Donna's way again at the end.

"Oh, I don't doubt the length of your references Harkness," Martha smirked at the man before smiling at Donna again, "He's a bit of an intergalactic playboy this one, Donna. If you believe even half his stories then there's not a species, let alone person, he hasn't taken a shot at shagging."

Jack shrugged in an enigmatic way, "I'm just not limited by your twenty-first century sexual morals is all; universe is too big of a place not to have an open mind."

Indignation at Martha fluttered in Donna's stomach as she made the only logical conclusion from the conversation so far. "So your master plan was to have me get advice from some," she gestured at Jack with a hand wave, "Intergalactic gigolo? I'll take my chances slipping spaceman some sleeping pills thanks all the same."

Martha looked equally flustered and embarrassed at Donna's accusation; something that was not helped by Jack's loud guffaws that issued at the same time. The captain beamed even brighter at her now, "Oh please tell you call him that."

"Donna it's not like that at all," Martha insisted, shooting a glare at Jack for a split second before looking at her again.

Donna felt some of her anger fall away at Martha's pleading, but crossed her arms stubbornly across her chest anyway. She already felt out of sorts with this situation and she wasn't about to be turned into a joke over it as well. "Well that's what it looks like from where I'm sitting, and yes," Donna looked over at Jack then, nose slightly turned up as she did, "I call him that and worse if he deserves it."

The man's smile and low appreciative whistle did much to diffuse the last embers of Donna's anger, "What a needed blow to his Time Lord pride you must be. Donna Noble, I salute you." After a compliment like that, Donna couldn't help but lift her own drink to clink with his. It was about time someone recognized what she had to go through with that man some days. Like taking care of a nosy five year old he was, and when she told Jack as much, it only made him laugh harder.

"Oh man," he wiped a tear away from his eye, "I have to admit. You sort of remind me of her."

"Who?" Donna questioned with some confusion. Had she missed a reference in there somewhere?

Jack gave her a melancholy smile as he answered her, "Rose, of course."

In the shock caused by his statement, Martha finally took the opportunity to explain things to Donna. "Jack used to travel with them you see," her friend clarified, "The Doctor and Rose. He's the source I was telling you about on the way over. I rang him after your call to see if he might be able to give you some tips on acting like Rose if it was as bad as it thought it might be until this works out of his system; which, now that I have seen him, I can definitely say you'll need."

Right. She'd forgotten all about that bit thanks to Mr. Charming here actually. Not wanting to give away that he'd affected her as such, she sat a little straighter and gave the captain a skeptical glance, "And you say I already act like her then?"

Jack shook his head as he set his drink down, "No. I said you remind me of her. Big difference." Donna opened her mouth to ask if he was insulting her, but his raised hand cut her off. "I don't mean that in a bad way either. It's that casual ability to stand up to him that you share as far as I can tell," he smirked at her, adding in one last comment, "Of course Rose was more about teasing him any time he tried to act impressive, but when she felt he was in the wrong she let him know it, and that she wasn't okay with it."

Donna had already figured it would be a bit like that between the pair and, while she never though bad of the woman before, it did raise her opinions of Rose a bit to know this woman hadn't been afraid to give the Doctor a push when he needed it even then. Her mind immediately jumped to her first adventure with the Doctor. The screams of the giant spider queen and her babies while the Doctor just stood there, watching as the room flooded with the water and sounds of the river.

"Sometimes he needs someone to tell him when to stop," Donna solemnly stated, looking back over at her two companions as she did, having just realized she'd looked away during her musings. Martha's face held a dark contemplative look, likely lost in memory as well, but Jack was giving her an assessing stare. Donna felt a bit miffed that even when he wasn't trying to charm the pants off her she still found his eyes smoldering and managed to only fidget slightly under the weight of his gaze.

The silence between the three stretched on for what felt like a lifetime, but was likely just a few minutes, when Jack broke it. "You already know how this is going to end," he stated.

Donna let out a sigh as she closed her eyes, "Not really no, but I know what he was like the first time."

"The first time?" Martha prompted.

Opening her eyes, Donna looked first at Jack, and then at Martha as she debated sharing her knowledge with them. Seeing what she needed in their expressions however, Donna nodded once. "First time I met him- bit over a year ago now I think, hard to tell with all this traveling – I didn't know it at the time, but I think he'd only just lost her. Rose I mean," Donna clarified. Martha's face had widened in surprise at her confession, but Jack was unfazed. He gave her a small nod to continue.

"You have to understand," Donna started, feeling the need to defend herself, "I was mid stride down the aisle, about to be married to a man I thought- but that doesn't matter. So yeah, walking down the aisle and suddenly I'm glowing before just as suddenly I'm in this strange looking place. Weird grating beneath my feet, odd greenish bronze coloring everywhere, and I whirl around to see him standing there – just as shocked of course – and I immediately start accusing him of kidnapping of all things, demanding he take me back. Even worse was when I found this woman's jacket not a minute later and, thinking I'd not been the first to be snatched up in some horrible prank, I called him out on it." She paused more a moment, "I'll never forget that look on his face as he stared at that purple bit of fabric before he took it from me. He was so broken and hurt and…looking back on it now I think he'd been crying a bit as he'd wiped his face off right at the start." Martha held up a hand to cover her mouth as let out what sounded like an 'Oh god' at this revelation, while Jack's look had turned dark as he clearly contemplated something.

"He must have just said goodbye," Jack finally spoke a moment later. He looked up from his staring at the table and glanced between Martha and herself for a moment before leaning forward on the table, head bent low and his voice tight and serious. "I've got some things to show the two of you but I want to tell you a bit about Rose first. Before I do that though, I need your _word_ that you will never speak to the Doctor about any of this unless he tells you about it first. If you've traveled with him for any amount of time you can tell he's a private man, almost to the point of being frigid on some topics really, and I know for a fact that something this personal wouldn't be brought up often or voluntarily. Still, it's something Donna will need to know at the very least once this drug is out of his system, and I wasn't kidding when I said I pity you about going through this. You seem like you've seen him at his lowest though if what you're saying is true, so I think you'll be able to handle it. Do I have your word ladies?"

Donna immediately nodded, "Of course." Martha replied in a similar fashion.

Jack weighed their conviction before giving a brief nod and began to remove things from his blue jacket pockets, "Alright then." He laid a small, well used, leather book and one of those iPad looking computers on the table before him as he began, "The Doctor was a different man when I met him, literally. I know Martha already knows about this but the Doctor has this ability to completely change his body if he's about to die. I always thought it was another Time Lord rumor until recently."

"Hang on," Donna interrupted, "What do you mean a rumor? You'd known about aliens before you met the Doctor?"

The captain shot a cheeky grin her way as he undid the leather bindings on his book, "Sweetheart, I'm from the fifty-first century originally. Even though I'm human, I'm almost an alien to you myself."

Donna's jaw dropped. That certainly explained the strangeness about him. "You're joking," she replied and his smile assured her he was not.

"I was a Time Agent once upon a time, and we learned about this mythical race called the Time Lords in our history class," then man continued, "Nothing but speculation and rumors of course so you can imagine my shock and skepticism when the Doctor claimed he was one. Stepping foot in the Tardis was a quick way to change my mind as I'm sure you know." He waved the subject off, "Anyway, the Doctor looked different then and acted a bit different too. He was very gruff, very hard, and the only thing that ever made him light up was her." Jack removed a slim piece of paper from his book and passed it over for Donna's inspection. She recognized Jack immediately, only a few years younger by her guess, the other two were complete unknowns to her but from everything he'd just said she could hazard a guess who they might be. It was a posed picture, the three of them mugging it up in some bar by the looks of it, but the Doctor – or the man she assumed must be him – had a dopey sort of smile on his face with his arm wrapped around the young blonde in braids on his right.

It was a smile she'd seen several times sent her way quite a bit recently.

Donna wanted to comment on how comfortable the three of them looked there, like they were the best of mates, but the first thing that came out of her mouth was, "She's so _young_."

Jack smirked, "And she already had a 900 year old alien wrapped around her finger; even if she didn't know it then."

Now that Donna could not believe. "You're full of it," she proclaimed, "You'd have to be blind not to see how they feel about each other, it's all over their faces!"

She passed the photo to Martha then, trying to get her fellow woman to agree with her, but the former companion just looked at it fondly for a few seconds before giving it back to Jack. Right. Martha had said she'd talked to Jack about Rose before after all. This was likely all old news to her then.

"You'd think so wouldn't you?" Jack smiled as he shook his head, "I think Rose would have jumped at the chance if the Doc would have just given her a clear sign that he felt the same, but he had some strange moral code in his head that wouldn't let him."

Donna sorted, "Well I can tell you that must have changed at some point with the way he's treating me now unless they were all handsy and kissing back then too."

Jack's eyebrows shot up, "Really now? Well that certainly explains some things. They were always drawn to each other like magnets, but the kissing thing, that's a new one." A shadow passed over the time agent's face then as he lost himself in some thought and surprisingly it was Martha who broke the silence this time.

"From what Jack tells me," she began slowly, "Rose met him right after he'd just lost everything. Survivor's guilt on top of depression best as I can tell from what he's mentioned about the Time War, but somehow she managed to bring him out of it and remind him the universe had some good left in it still."

"Like I said," Jack spoke up again, "Wrapped around her finger; especially with that smile of hers." There was a wistfulness to the man's voice now that made Donna wonder just what had gone on between the three of them. It also made her wonder how she was going to pretend to be this girl who could do no wrong it seemed, and she said as much to the pair of them.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. Rose was a wonderful woman, definitely one of the bright lights in this universe, but she was also just a human – and a young one at that," Jack insisted quickly, "I spent years learning how time needed to be handled very carefully at the academy, so I knew just how serious gallivanting through time could be, but Rose? A twenty-first century young woman? She often thought with her heart first and her head second and while that was something I loved about her, that selfishness also caused a fair share of problems. Well, that and her ability to wander off into trouble. First time I met her she was dangling above London from a barrage balloon."

Jack half smiled at the memory and let out a small chuckle, "The Doctor liked to refer to it as her being 'jeopardy friendly' when he was in a good mood, and a 'right pain in his arse' when he wasn't."

The captain went on to describe what his time with them was like, how the two played off one another, Rose's generally upbeat look at life, and - as it was usually the case when any two people knew enough about each other – their ability to hurt each other and press the other's buttons when they got angry. Martha occasionally chimed in with the tiny bits of her own knowledge about Rose, like the Doctor's claim at her perceptive abilities. Something Jack felt she'd developed from growing up on one of the council estates combined with a good deductive reasoning ability. The more Donna learned about this young woman over the better part of an hour, the more she began to understand how the Doctor could feel the loss of such a person in his life so deeply. And that wasn't even factoring in the romantic aspect of it all. Still, it was clear the former time agent was the expert on Rose that Martha claimed she was as he dominated the conversation.

Jack neatly sidestepped talking about why he wasn't traveling with the Doctor anymore, but it was certainly before this regeneration business since he'd clearly mentioned not seeing the Doctor's new face – and this was an alien concept that she was still trying to wrap her brain around really – until recently. The other tip off being that when Jack pulled out a handful of other photographs from his little journal as he spoke, none of them showed the Doctor she was familiar with. The older version of the Doctor wasn't half bad looking though so she couldn't say she minded. One fact was bothering her about the whole situation with this Romeo and Juliet romance playing out before her and, seeing as she wasn't one to back down from anything, Donna asked the question that was bothering her.

"How exactly did he lose her?"

Jack and Martha exchanged a look, no doubt wondering if they should answer, but Donna was not to be deterred; revealing what she already had figured out on her own. "Clearly she's not dead or when I asked the Doctor about her, when he met up again, he would've said so yeah? And it doesn't sound like she would've left him if what you're saying is true. So, what? She just happened to get stuck someplace his magic time box can't pop over to?" she asked with some speculation but in all seriousness.

Her reasoning clearly caught the pair off guard as Martha's eyes widened in surprise. "Erm, yeah actually," her friend responded, "When he and Jack met up again, he said she was stuck in an alternate universe. He can't go after her without destroying everything apparently."

Donna pursed her lips in clear disbelief, "Alternate universes. Seriously? You're joking."

"Oh they're real alright and, actually, humankind is on the verge of discovering proof of their existence this century," Jack with a casual shrug before looking down at the table again. He turned on the forgotten about computer tablet as he continued, "After the Doc told me about what happened I went to see if I could dig up anything useful. Thought I would see if maybe there was something I could do about it. Some moment they'd lost sight of each other that could be manipulated so I could change the outcome. I work for the company where the breech ripped open so it didn't take much to hack into their back up security footage from that day."

A few more flicks and swivels of his fingers across the flat screen and Jack had found what he wanted before flipping the screen around so the two women could see, "The audio cuts to static along with the picture due to void interference occasionally but this is the moment it all happened." Donna stared at the frozen image and felt her stomach drop out. She suddenly had no desire to see this video. She'd take their word on the alternate universe thing, cause if what Jack was saying was true…

Before she could find voice to these feeling though, Jack had hit the play marker and, like watching a car wreck, she couldn't make herself look away.

The small grouping of people came to life at that moment and a voice picked up half way through a speech of some sort it appeared. _"-for all of us. For the whole... stupid planet and every planet out there. He does it alone, mum."_ Donna could only see the backs of the Doctor and the young women - Rose no doubt - who was speaking passionately to her mother and the rest of the group. _"But not anymore. 'Cos now he's got me."_ Rose insisted as she backed up towards the Doctor. But while she had the Doctor had pulled something out of his pocket, slipping it around Rose' neck when she was close enough.

Donna glared at the screen then. That daft alien better not be trying to do what she thought he was or he was in for a smack.

The weight around her neck clearly caught Rose off guard as she spun around to face him. _"What're you-"_ The screen flickered to static then and everyone but the Doctor had vanished when it came back into focus.

Right. A smack it was then. No more of this 'lost' mopping if it was the bastard's own fault.

The Doctor had just started to working on a computer station on the right when the screen went static once more, and Rose was suddenly back; looking right at the Doctor. _"-this is the on switch."_ Donna nodded approvingly at the young woman's actions. After everything she'd been told today she would've expected no less of her.

The Doctor however didn't seem to be as pleased about Rose's actions as he rushed over and gripped her by her shoulders. _"Once the breech collapses that's IT! You will never be able to see her again. Your own mother!"_

Rose wouldn't give in though and met him head on, though her voice trembled in her reply. _"I made my choice a long time ago, and I am_ _never_ _gonna leave you."_

The two were at a stalemate, with the Doctor clearly in disbelief over Rose's decision. She moved on though, asking how to help and the Doctor instructed her on what to do; imputing information on the other computer station like he asked. The Doctor seemed terse with Rose at times but the static was picking up again, making it difficult to hear anything, though the video seemed to be steady for the moment. Donna followed their movements as they worked. Rose made a comment at some point that had the pair of them grinning and sending back banter between the pair most likely.

The Doctor set Rose up on the side with the camera so Donna was able to finally hear some dialog. _"When it starts, just hold on tight. Shouldn't be too bad for us but the Daleks and the Cybermen are steeped in Void Stuff. Are you ready?"_ Rose's response was too soft to hear but Donna could see her nod as she pointed to something off screen. The Doctor looked at whatever it was as he rushed to the opposite side. _"Let's do it!"_ The pair worked simultaneously as they pulled the levers up before quickly grabbing hold of the handles they'd stuck upon the wall.

Static took over the screen in fits and bursts now and Donna watched with tense anticipation as the pair of them held on for dear life, fighting what ever sort of suction the blinding white light at the end of the room was creating that caused all sorts of metal creatures to fly past them at a startling rate. The Doctor shouted something that sounded happy right before one of the pepper pot looking robots hit the lever on Rose's side. There was more shouting between the pair as the suction decreased and Rose let go of her handle to lift the lever back up. Donna could see it all coming before it happened. Knew how things must end for the pair now, even with the distorted sound and video. Rose struggled to hold on, but it was too much in the end. Her hands slipped from the lever.

The Doctor's scream resounded loudly and static free as Rose fell towards the light.

Donna was able to make out the image of someone appearing in Rose's path and catching her before there was one last spike of complete static followed by a startling silence. Only the faint sound of rubber soles could be heard after the Doctor released his now needless grip on the clamp and slowly walked over to the ordinary looking white wall; pressing a hand against it for just a second before pressing his entire body flush up upon the surface.

* * *

It was with a heavy heart and mind that Donna Noble walked back to the Tardis that afternoon. The clock claimed it was just over an hour since she'd last spoken to the Doctor in the chippy, but it felt like a lifetime after everything she's heard and seen in that span. God her heart hurt for him. What was she to do now? Could she really pretend that everything was brilliant when she'd likely have to deal with a grief stricken Time Lord all over again? Well that was a stupid question, of course she would have to. There wasn't much of a choice in the matter really.

She just wasn't sure her heart could take it. The sound of the Doctor screaming Rose's name still rung in her ears even now.

Standing before the now familiar wooden blue doors, Donna took a few steadying breaths as she attempted to get her emotions under control. Focus girl. You can do this and better still, you have some information to work with.

Her key turned easily in the lock and she pushed the door open as she stepped in. An unmistakable tuft of brown hair popped up from below the grating. The rest of him followed suit as she walked up the ramp, his disheveled appearance making her smile fondly. The Doctor's grin upon seeing her had lit up his face and Donna drank it in after the pain she'd seen on it only minutes ago. Even though he wouldn't understand the true meaning behind it at the moment, Donna didn't fight the urge she had to give him a tight hug. They were something Jack had encouraged to do as the pair had always been tactile before giving into their mutual attraction after all, and he very much doubted they would've stopped.

The Doctor hummed pleasantly as he returned the embrace; placing a little kiss on the crown of her head before releasing her by just a few inches. "Have a pleasant visit with Martha then?" he inquired, "I didn't expect you back for hours yet. I'm told weddings are a very important affair and figured there would be much discussion over things like…oh I don't know tulle, or ribbons. Oh! Or cake! Now that Rose, that is a discussion I could understand taking hours to come to a decision on."

Donna laughed abruptly at the Doctor's rambling, stepping a bit back from the closeness, but not so much as to worry him hopefully. She smiled up at him, "Yeah, we had a good chat. Tom sounds like a decent bloke. Think we can visit for the wedding?"

The Doctor wrinkled his nose and rocked on his heels, "Surely not right away? I mean, you'll have to find a gift and something to wear - although, the Tardis could help you out easy with that one – and there's this brilliant planet I was planning to take us next. Helitrophe 4. Has clouds you can actually walk upon in the winter and-"

A quick finger over his mouth shut up that gob of his a bit more delicately than her normal glare would have done, but just the joy of seeing him so happy right now was enough to keep her typical ire at his ramblings down. "Sounds lovely," she agreed, taking her finger away, "We leaving now then?"

"Err," the Doctor quickly looked back down inside the cubby hole under the floor he'd emerged from, "Well…maybe not _just now_. Should only take a few minutes, well when I say minutes it could take – how about we make it an early morning date?"

Her heart gave a twist at the word and his accompanying bashful expression, but she continued to smile back; leaning up to press a kiss on the part of his cheek that was smudge free. "Think I'll go make up a pot then. You want a cuppa?" she offered.

The Doctor beamed happily at her, "Sounds brilliant."

Donna made it to the hallway off the console room before turning to look back at the alien. He stood with his hands in his pockets, smiling and watching her as she left. Knowing what she did now and what was likely coming, Donna gave him one last parting grin before finally walking off. While the coming days were likely to be hard on her, she knew the ones after, when the Doctor came to his senses, were going to be worse and that this time…this time she wouldn't be all confused and accusing during his grief. She'd be what he'd needed in the first place.

A friend.


	4. Living the High Life

Traveling with the Doctor was everything and nothing like Donna Noble had ever imagined. It has been dangerous, it has been strange, it has been awkward, and it all usually starts out as a fun, simple idea that typically spirals out of control. Not exactly what she'd wanted on that fateful wedding day over a year ago, but she wouldn't trade anything for a moment of it now.

Today's destination seemed a bit different from the nicer spots the Doctor normally took her to, but that was to be expected she supposed. After having a night to process everything, Donna had decided that she wasn't going to let this whole hallucination business stand in the way of a good time. She may not be Rose, but she could certainly appreciate walking on clouds after all.

The Doctor's ridiculously early wake-up call had almost made her reconsider that decision, but standing just inside the Tardis doors and looking out upon the sea of clouds before her feet at dawn took her breath away. The sun this planet orbited was red and bathed the fluffy white objects in a riot of crimsons, burgundies and deep violets. The closest thing she could liken it too was finding a sky full of leaves in the late fall, but there was a quality of light mixed in with it that just couldn't be described.

"Oh," Donna breathed and clutched at her chest, "It's so…I don't have the words really."

The Doctor moved to stand slightly behind her on the right. "Yes, I know the feeling," he softly remarked.

She struggled not to look at the Doctor's face after those words, but he laced his hand through hers and she couldn't stop the involuntary turn in his direction that action caused. There was such tenderness and unspoken devotion in his eyes then that Donna had to fight the impulse to look away from such emotions that weren't really meant for her. She gave him a smile instead that was swiftly returned.

"Come on then! We didn't come all this way just stand there and look at things now, did we?" The Doctor teased before pulling Donna out the Tardis doors. Her stomach clenched involuntarily in that second between stepping off the metal and standing out on the cloud when she feared she might fall right through the puffy display. Decades of ingrained knowledge warred with what she'd been told just moments ago, and adrenaline flooded her system. It took a full three seconds of staring down at her feet, as the clouds held her and swirled over the tops of them as if she was standing on the edge of a moor, for her to realize she was actually doing it. She was standing on a cloud.

"Oh my god," she breathed; looking back and forth between the white, and slightly see through 'floor' and the grinning Time Lord at her side. "I'm on a cloud. _I'm standing on a flippin' cloud!_ " Donna giggled like a little girl at the end, causing the Doctor to laugh loudly, before she gave a quick excited jump in the air.

When the cloud didn't immediately catch her like she thought it would on her landing, Donna gripped the arm beside her tightly in a moment of panic. Thoughts of falling to her death flooding her mind again. The resistance was slowly met however, leaving her a foot shorter than she used to be. "Careful now," the Doctor cautioned as he assisted Donna in stepping back on top of the cloud, "They're only semi-tangible after all."

"Semi-tangible?" Donna protested, "That's not what you said the other day."

The Doctor looked a bit sheepish for a moment before rambling on, "Oh, well, slip of the tongue I'm sure. Wouldn't be able to serve their purpose in this planets water-cycle if they were fully tangible, now could they? The molecules are composed differently here and have a higher density when they bond with the sodium in the air during the winter, allowing us to walk upon their surface if they're large enough." He smiled at her then, clearly expecting praise at his knowledge.

"Be a bit more impressive if I'd not had a scare thinking I was about to fall through them," Donna casually replied as she straightened herself out. She peaked at him out of the corner of her eye and had to bite her inner cheek to keep from grinning. He could make armies collapse in giggles with a pout that pathetic. "So," she cared on, "No runnin' and jumpin' then yeah?"

"Well," the Doctor tugged on his ear in thought, "you could try if you like, but it would be a bit like moving quickly on jell-o. You're likely to either slip due to the lack of proper friction, or sink up to your knees if you land too hard -or get to close to the edge.

Donna had figured as much by that point, but had thought it best to make sure before doing any crazy stunts again. She took a handful of carefully placed steps forward before stopping and looking around her. Some of the clouds were separating, and she could just barely make out the dark ground below. Turning around, her breath caught in her throat once more at the vision of the blue Police Box just sitting there, and she couldn't help but think upon how surreal and dream like it all seemed. Seeming to read her thoughts, the Doctor smiled at her again and gave her hand a small squeeze before pulling her down into a crouch with him.

He wiggled his hand at her before setting down on top of the cloud, and then slowly pushing it through the surface until it looked like it had been cut off completely. Fascinated, Donna repeated his actions with her free left hand. His description earlier had been very accurate as it felt much like reaching inside a jell-o mold, and she gasped when she'd finally submerged her hand. "It's so cold," she remarked, pulling back so that only her finger tips slowly wiggled about the top.

The Doctor didn't comment, just smiled softly at her -as he was want to do lately- while removing his own hand completely from the cloud. Donna opened her mouth to ask him a question about the clouds when a curious buzzing started to sound from underneath them, and all she could get out was 'Doctor' when a hovercraft of some sort pulled up in front of them.

Donna sighed at the familiar sight of flashing mauve lights and an enhanced voice that demanded that they remain still for processing as a shadowy form quickly slid towards them. It had all been going so nicely too. She supposed she should have known better.

* * *

"Snakes," Donna shuddered, "Why'd it have to be bloody _snakes_?"

She was surrounded on all sides by the towering snake creatures as they led herself and the Doctor to their jail cell for trespassing on the clouds. The Doctor of course having landed them during a time after tourists had almost destroyed Helitrophe 4's water cycle; the romping around causing the clouds to disperse and were therefore unable to form the much needed rain clouds.

"Actually," the spaceman in question spoke up, "The Vipetions aren't snakes as you know them. Much more lizard like really. Think…think evolved dinosaur I suppose."

Donna scoffed, "Right, cause that makes me feel _loads_ better thanks. Imprisoned by evolved dinosaurs and not giant snakes – don't' see how that's gonna help our situation any."

The Doctor gave her a smile and a wink over his shoulder, "Oh, I'm sure the two of us will think something." Whatever that something was, Donna would never know as they came upon a 'T' junction in the hallway and the Doctor was led down the opposite side from herself, as apparently they didn't approve of sharing cells with the opposite sex here. He started yelling at her to keep calm while protesting that this was all a misunderstanding (yes, cause that had worked _so_ very well when they'd been caught), but the first doorway she was led through immediately cut off all sound once they'd passed due to some sort of force field. So Donna figured she was stuck figuring out how to escape on her own.

The scaly creatures gently pushed her inside a small cell that sealed with another force field once she was in. Donna shuddered involuntarily from their touch and rubbed her arms where they'd had contact to try and get rid of the feeling. "I bloody hate snakes," she stated to the empty cell. It looked much like any other cell she'd been locked up inside since traveling with the Doctor. Bench like thing for a bed, barred window so high up that one couldn't see out of it properly, and no immediate way to escape that she could see.

The combo sink and loo were a step up from the bucket she'd last had so, silver lining there she supposed.

It was a bit odd to have advanced force field doors with stone walls though. Must be upgrading. Donna shook her head at that thought, "Now I know I've been traveling with that dumbo for too long. I get arrested and the first thing I do is critique the design of the prison."

After another glance around the small cell failed to reveal any brilliant escape plans, she started examining the walls for maybe a loose brick or hidden control panel that she could smash. Half way through inspecting the right side, she heard a hissing noise coming from a tiny gap between the stones. Donna bent down slowly to try and get a view through the few centimeters wide gap, but couldn't quite bend her back comfortably to do so; so she gave in and got on her knees instead. Jumping back with a gasp when she saw a brown eye staring back at her through the hole.

"Sorry!" the owner of the eye apologized, "Didn' mean to scare ya. Thought I heard them bringing someone else in, you alright?"

Donna let out a breath and got close to the gap again, "'S alright. Just wasn't expecting to see just your eye was all." Enough light was coming through the windows that Donna could tell the woman had pulled back slightly now, and that along with the brown eyes had human looking skin at least. "So," Donna lightly asked, "What're you in for then?"

The eye on the other side crinkled in amusement, "Oh ya know, property damage, non-authorized form of travel…s' just another Thursday for me. You?"

"Walking on the clouds," Donna shrugged.

"What? Seriously?" the other voice questioned, "Bit harsh to sentence you to death for something like that innit?"

"You would think so," Donna rebutted with a smile, enjoying the easy camaraderie she already felt with the other woman.

Giving a sigh, Donna leaned back on her heels to look about the cell once more, "Don't see how either of us are getting out of here though. Bit hard to try picking a lock when one doesn't exist." The woman on the other side was quiet long enough for Donna to wonder if maybe she hadn't heard her, since she wasn't right up next to the gap, and leaned forward just in time to see a hand brush aside a lock of blonde hair to reveal the brown eye in profile this time.

"Have you got any hair clips or anythin'?" the woman finally asked rather randomly.

Donna furrowed her brow in confusion, "Just the one. You need it for something?"

"Might be able to trip the circuit on the doors if it's long enough," the blonde answered.

"Seriously?" Donna gasped, already moving her hands to remove the hair clip.

The eye crinkled in a smile again, "Like I said, this happens to me a bit more often than I'd like. Was given a crash course on electronics not too long ago and I found a weak section where they've attached the equipment for the field projection in here. If I had even a bobby pin in my hair I'd have been out ages ago."

"Well you'll have to pardon my saying I'm glad you didn't have one," Donna quipped and the woman let out a guffaw of laughter.

"Can't say I blame ya, yeah," the woman chuckled, "That mean you're up for a little bustin' out then?"

"Oh yes!" Donna smiled, adjusting the hold on her hair clip so that she just held it by the tips of her fingers. "I've got it by the ends so just be careful when you to grab it, alright?"

The woman answered in the affirmative and Donna inserted the fingers of her hand inside the gap as far as they could reach. She held her breath in anticipation as she felt warm human like hands brush against her own and grope about for the clip. They both swore when it fell from her fingers.

Donna heard a muffled sorry as she removed her hand to look inside the gap. It was dark with only her window providing light, but she could just make out a hand ghosting about the bottom of the hole for the clip. She helped guide the woman's fingers towards the clip as best as she could, exclaiming in triumph when the blonde finally got a good hold of it and removed it. "Ta. Should just be a mo'."

Several tense minutes passed for Donna after that. She couldn't hear the other woman working, and the one time she asked how things were coming along there was only a terse 'Workin' on it' in reply. When she called out again after the ten minute mark and didn't receive a reply at all, Donna started to panic that maybe something had happened to her new ally. Either that or she'd been left behind.

Her fears were soothed not seconds later though as the force field to her cell flickered three times before shutting off. Not taking any chances of it coming back on, Donna rushed out of her cell with a smile on her face. She opened her mouth to thank her new friend, but a quick look in either direction showed the same thing, emptiness.

"Hello?" her voice echoed down the long corridor, but no one emerged to answer her call. She hesitated where she was for a long minute before coming to a decision.

Not wanting to be caught out in the open trying to find the mysterious woman, Donna let out a mental prayer that the blonde was alright as she set off back down the way she'd entered at a run. A quick plan forming in her mind as she tried to think of a way to free the Doctor along the way; an act that proved to be wholly unnecessary as she quite literally ran into the alien where she'd last seen him at the 'T' junction split. "Rose!" he exclaimed in delight and swept her up in a quick hug, "I was just coming to get you."

Donna smirked and tossed her unbound ginger locks over her shoulder, "You'll do well to remember I don't always need you to rescue me."

The Doctor smiled and went to reply before an alarm started to shrill loudly above their heads and the pair of them winced at the sound. He recovered first though and with a wide grin, grabbed Donna's hand and stated, "Run."

* * *

Bursting through the Tardis doors with a bout of laughter, the Doctor sprinted to the console and quickly went about moving them into the vortex. "That was genius, Rose Tyler, pure genius!" he exclaimed proudly. Looking over at the doors after pulling the final lever, he saw her blush under his praise but walked confidently over to his side.

"Tiny dinosaurs or not, I don't know anyone who can run properly through a custard covered floor," she grinned coyly back at him and seeing that pink tongue peak out from the side of her mouth, the Doctor didn't bother to stop his first impulse as he quickly moved in to kiss her. He felt Rose tense in his hold for a second before softly returning the press of her lips against his. His tongue gently traced along her bottom lip to deepen the kiss, and chase after that mischievous pink tongue of hers, when she pulled away abruptly.

"Um, I should…probably shower," Rose fumbled out as she took another step back. "Custard back splash and err, dirty knees from the cell. I no doubt look a right mess."

The Doctor didn't even have a chance to object as she quickly took off out of the console room and down the hall. He frowned as he stared at her exit and he swept his tongue out to catch what was left of her taste on his lips. Something was off about it that he couldn't quite place his mental finger on. She hadn't quite tasted like he expected Rose to taste, and thinking about that led him to recalling the other odd things about Rose he'd noticed over the last few days.

It had only been a handful of small events – a flicker of red when he'd catch sight of her hair out of the corner of his eye or when it moved, avoiding his affections and flirting banter half the time, her clothing looking completely different from her normal style at a distance– and he'd dismissed each one at the time as an isolated incident or a trick of the light. Taking it all into account with her backing away from him affections just now however, and the Time Lord became concerned at what might be going on.

He searched his memory for the first time Rose had begun acting strange and recalled a fuzzy event from just a few days back when he'd woken up in the med bay. The memories before that were hazy and out of reach in a way that immediately disturbed the Doctor. Hadn't Rose been worried about something she'd said he eaten? He couldn't recall ever checking himself over for any toxins as he'd felt perfectly fine in a few minutes, but perhaps she had reason to be concerned. It didn't explain everything that was bothering him of course, but if whatever he'd ingested was causing his brain chemistry to be thrown off enough to alter his memories then it warranted a further look into.

Mind made up not a minute later, the Doctor made sure the Tardis was on a holding pattern in the vortex for the next couple of hours before heading off to his chambers. He'd start with a quick healing nap to allow his brain the chance to correct the possible issue on it's own before running a blood analysis on himself.


	5. Of all the Things I've Loved and Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this is the end people. As promised, I've kept the story as angst free as possible, and you should be able to see where it slots nicely into series 4 - if I do say so myself. Thanks for taking a read and feel free to let me know what you liked or not. :)

The Doctor gently awoke with a deep gasp like inhale, and he immediately tried to recall where he was. His mind was unusually groggy for having just gone through the storage and cataloging cycle that sleep provided him and… His face contorted into a grimace as his tongue gave a loud smack in his mouth. What horrible thing had he eaten to cause his enzymes to activate without his knowledge?

Having an immediate need to rid himself of the burning flavor, the Doctor quickly removed himself from his bed before making a bee line to the bathroom. As he proceeded to rise, spit and brush the contaminate away, he attempted to determine what the cause was while his memories slotted into place and focus. What had he last eaten? Well chips wouldn't cause a reaction like this, he loved chips, and they had gone to Rose's favorite chippy – one that he had thoroughly checked to ensure a lack of world destroying plot by the aliens that ran it – so if something had been put in the chips he would have known after that first bite.

The Doctor frowned at his reflection, Venusian toothbrush poised mid stroke. Unless someone had slipped something in without his noticing until it was too late -it had happened with the Krillitane Oil after all-, necessitating the three hour nap. Surely if that was the case though he would have seen an immediate reaction from-

His right heart clenched, followed by an echo of the action from the left, as adrenaline moved to flood his system. Rose. If his body had to take such extreme measures then Rose was in far greater danger. He quickly spit out the toothbrush and its cleaning paste before hastening out of the room; only making it as far as the hallway before a rush of cold hard realization flooded his being.

There was no Rose to check on.

Rose was gone. Trapped. An impossible desire that he could no longer have.

His memories had finally settled now, a full ten minutes after waking, and the Doctor stood in the doorway of his room as he reviewed the events of the last few days.

* * *

Donna sat at the rickety table in Tardis galley, mug of tea warming her hands, and in silent contemplation of where the Doctor had gone. There was no clock in her room of course, but the watch she kept assured her that her extended shower and beauty regime hadn't taken longer than an hour. So how was it that, an additional two hours after that even, she'd yet to find the spaceman? The ship hadn't given her any assistance in finding him either and Donna had a feeling of dread in her stomach as to what the likely cause of his actions were.

That god forsaken kiss.

She'd dodged them for as long as she could, she really had. But he'd just jumped on her so suddenly after their chase from the prison! Once initiated it wasn't as if she could just push him off or something and, really, it hadn't been the worst kiss of her life – _that_ honorary moment belong to Mitch Reesing back in fifth year. No, it had been a bit like kissing one of her gay mates when they were drunk she supposed…except a bit more awkward as she'd been entirely sober this time. God, she hoped he wouldn't try for another before this was all over.

Taking a sip of her cooling tea, Donna was just deciding on where to search next after her little break when the alien in question casually poked his head in the room.

"Hello. I was wondering where you'd gone off to," the Doctor smiled as he breezed past, helping himself to the kettle.

Donna gaped, "You were wondering where I - I've been looking for you for you for ages! Where've you been hiding then?"

"I haven't been hiding, Donna. Besides, the Tardis would've let you know where I was if it had been an emergency," he replied, back turned to her as he set about heaping sugar and milk into his mug.

"Still, you could let a girl know next-" Donna stopped mid stream as she finished processing what the Doctor had just said. "You just called me Donna," she stated, finger pointed at him in observation.

"Of course. Who else would you be?" he commented casually as he took a sip of his tea. Donna's eyes narrowed though as she caught the flicker of uncertainty when his eyes darted to hers for just a moment. There was a tense minute when neither of them spoke before the Doctor cleared his throat and moved to leave, "Right, well, now that we've found each other I'll just, you know," he motioned vaguely with his hand in the direction of the hallway as he walked off.

"Doctor."

He paused in the doorway but didn't turn around, "Something you need?"

Donna sighed as she set down her cup. She should have known he was going to make this difficult, "I'm thinking it's more like something you need really." He gave her a confused glance as he turned back slightly towards her that didn't fool Donna one bit. "About the past couple of days…," she started.

The Doctor leaned against the door frame as he rubbed the back of his neck, "Right, look, Donna, I'm sorry that you had to be put in that sort of…situation, and I wouldn't blame you if you want to, well, I mean I'd miss you of course, but I'd certainly understand-"

"What _are_ you talking about?" Donna asked disbelievingly, "I'm not going anywhere ya big dumbo. Why on Earth would you think that?"

"Well," the Doctor drew out the word reluctantly, "when you asked to come along, and considering what you've had to go through the past few days I just thought-"

Donna scoffed, "I'm not gonna say it's been ideal, but I'm not planning on leaving because you couldn't control yourself-" the Doctor grimaced at that, "-and I'm glad that it happened." He shot a doubtful look at her then that caused Donna to feel indignant, "I am! I've learned more about you in the past few days then in all the months we've been traveling together!" She watched in silence as he continued to rest against the door frame, hands pushed deep in his trouser pockets, and let her ire dissipate. His entire body rang of defeat and pushing him wasn't going to get them anywhere.

Minutes hung between them like tangible things as Donna tried to find the right words. She'd like to believe they'd become close during their travels, but it had been some time since she'd been the one to do the comforting over a relationship problem. Not to mention the nagging feeling she had that this would be her one and only shot at getting the tight lipped alien to talk about anything personal.

"We don't have to do this Donna," the Doctor quietly announced, shaking her from her musing. He was looking directly at her now, "Really. You, you handled yourself brilliantly during that whole event but there's nothing to be gained from speculation."

"Speculation?" Donna pondered hesitantly, wondering where he was going with this. Surely he wasn't purposing…

The Doctor let out a sigh as he reluctantly moved to sit across from Donna, "I tried everything to find a way to get her back but, genius though I may be, I'm still limited. No other Time Lords and only a fraction of my people's collective knowledge survives in the Tardis library. Best I could do was find a way to say goodbye, and even then…" He didn't continue or look up at her, just stared off towards the slight bent hinge on the cabinets across from the table.

"Oh," Donna let out a huff of relieved air, "That kind of speculation. Right. Never a doubt in mind that you didn't try everything you could to find your Rose. You're that kind of bloke after all."

It was the Doctor's turn to be confused as he half turned to regard Donna with a slightly furrowed brow, "What kind of speculation did you think I meant?"

Donna felt her cheeks grow warm in embarrassment and attempted to hide it behind her mug, "Oh, same sort of thing really. Doesn't matter."

"Donna," the Doctor was insistent, fully facing her now.

Not one to back down, Donna took a breath and met the Doctor's gaze with her own pointed stare, "I was worried you might have speculated having the past few days become a more permanent…thing." Of course, being a bloke, he continued to look at her like she was bonkers, so she elaborated, "You know, keep up with the berries and pretenin' that I-"

She could see that moment it finally clicked in his mind as his body became rigid, eyes wide in shock. "What! What? Donna, I'd, I'd never! Why would even think – No, just, NO," he adamantly rejected the idea, and Donna sighed in relief.

"Even if that were the case, it wouldn't have worked out," he added, returning to his position of facing the cabinetry, "I put my self into a healing sleep after we boarded the Tardis as I'd realized something was wrong. Had been suspecting something was off for quite awhile really."

Donna nodded thoughtfully. That certainly explained why she hadn't been able to find him as the man claimed he hardly ever slept and, quite honestly, she couldn't be bothered with wanting to know where the alien crept off for a kip when he did. Mentioning the drug again however brought to mind some of the questions she had for him back when this all started, and she figured it was best to strike while the iron was hot.

"What do they do to you exactly?" she began and he turned to raise an inquiring brow at her, "You'd mentioned back at the start of this nonsense that they might make you hallucinate, but you didn't even recognize Martha, let alone ask where I'd shuffled off to."

"Well I wouldn't. Not under such a strong dosage," he replied casually with a shrug of his shoulders, "In their diluted form, Time Lords used the p'linef berries to induce a sort of blissful compliance drug. Typically used to calm hysterical individuals down or, occasionally, for medical purposes but - in the pure form I encountered them - they created a temporarily amnesiac affect where the mind is taken back to the most recent happy memory."

Donna nodded along; pleased he'd not added long technical words that she couldn't follow along with, "And why didn't they effect me then?"

"Twenty-first century human, you have an appendix," the Doctor stated matter of factually.

"Oi! That's a bit presumptuous. What if I'd had mine removed?" Donna objected, "I'd have been the same as you and then we'd both be in a right state I imagine. Besides, I thought the doctors are always saying your appendix doesn't do anything?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Well they don't do much for humans on Earth _now_ , they've got that right, but they do serve purpose again when mankind goes out into the universe and starts trying to digest foreign matter like their ancestors. Unique adaptive little organ your appendix really, and as for the other point, I've known you still had yours since those scans I did back on your botched wedding day."

Donna let out a rather unremarkable 'Oh' in comment to the Doctor's revelation, and things descended into silence between them again. As she finished the last of her tea, Donna realized that the choice she'd been dreading was before her now. She could talk to him about whether the past few days had hurt him more than helped. Find out if these false memories were just additional moments to cherish or if they were tainted by the knowledge that they hadn't really happened with Rose in the first place. Questions and thoughts she herself didn't really want to know the answer to, and really, who would she be to say how he chose to view them anyway? After all, there were some good moments there as well and-

Quite suddenly, another option she hadn't thought of presented it's self as she recalled his earlier words.

"Right, well, I've come to a decision," Donna declared, setting her mug down purposefully. The Doctor looked at her once more as she continued, "We need to create more happy memories for you. Not like the ones with Rose," she rushed out quickly, "Just fun ones. Like today yeah? Walking on the clouds? Could do with a bit more ideas like that. Even the escaping from jail wasn't all that bad this time. Hell of a laugh when those snake men were flailing about really."

The Doctor looked at her for a handful of seconds, just long enough for Donna to doubt what she considered to be a brilliant plan, when a smile slowly grew on his skinny face. Maybe it wasn't as wide and as open as the ones her gave her when he thought she was Rose, but it was real in every possible way. There was a different warmth and gratitude in this smile that assured Donna she'd made the right decision. She wasn't pushing Rose away, or replacing her, or even asking that the Doctor accept that lost meant she wasn't ever coming back. After everything the Doctor had shown her, Donna wasn't ready to rule out impossible yet, but the man did too much not to deserve some happiness and a smile. And maybe, should he ever meet up with his Rose again, she wouldn't find just that shell of man he'd become since she'd gone.

Leaning forward over the table, the Doctor laid a hand over one of her own and asked quite jovially, "Donna Noble, what do you say to a trip to the roaring twenties?"

* * *

A blinding flash of brilliant white-blue light lit up the lab just before a loud sizzle and crackling noise accompanied it. Both lasted mere moments though before dissipating -as if they'd never been there in the first place- to reveal a young blonde woman in a blue leather jacket.

"No luck then babes?" Mickey Smith asked routinely, though with a touch of worry this time as he adjusted the levels on the dimension canon for power down and recharge.

The blonde known as Rose Tyler scowled as she attempted to smooth her static charged hair back into place, sighing as she eventually gave it up as a bad job, "I'll be able to charge this bloody thing on my own soon, and no. Still no Doctor." She gracefully hoped down from the elevated transport base that served as the launching pad for the canon as she made her way to her oldest friend. "Aided in a jail break though so, ya know, not a complete loss this time," she smiled.

Mickey frowned, "Rose you know you can't keep jumping in to save the day every time you shoot through. The longer you stay, the longer it takes to recharge this thing and we've got bigger problems than-"

"Yeah, I know Mickey," Rose cut him off irately and the pair glared each other down in battle of wills for a few seconds before Rose relented with a short sigh as she crossed her arms, "I didn't have much of a choice, alright? I materialized in the middle of a produce stand and the guards were on me before I could even get my head on proper. Lucky for me they brought in some other gal who had a hair clip I could snatch, or I might still be there." She shrugged casually, "Figured it was only fair to help unlock the whole prison so she had a sporting chance to make a leg for it. I needed the place wide open to find where they'd taken my relay isotope anyway."

He was a bit calmer now, but clearly unimpressed with her actions, "You can't just go mucking about at these places babes. What if she was some sort of serial killer that you just set free eh?"

"Not that it matters now Mick, but she'd only been walking on the clouds there," Rose protested, "I've done this before you know, you don't have to worry about me so much."

Before Mickey could form a rebuttal, a blonde male in black fatigues wandered over with a broad smile on his face. "Good to see you back in one piece then, eh?" Jake Simmonds stated as he swept a device across Rose several times before removing the quick return system from her wrist, "You well know the drill, _Ms. Tyler_. Twenty four hours to get your 4S's in. Make sure to sleep, shit, shave and shower before we see you for the next hop." He tossed her a wink at the end that had her grinning widely, the tension from her conversation with Mickey easing away from her face.

"Seriously? The four esses? You been practicing that while I was gone?" she teased.

"Well I'd offer to thrown in a fifth, but after three years I know better to think there's anyone on this planet you'll shag," Jake replied. While still jovial, his casual reminder dimmed Rose's smile and she let the conversation drop; giving a hug to both Jake and Mickey after she finished her re-entry checks before making her way down and out of Torchwood Tower.

Standing outside, she paused to take a look up at the night sky. The moon was just a thin sliver above her tonight and thanks to the unavoidable awareness of the astrological phenomenon they were experiencing, half of London was dim so that they too could see it with their own eyes. Rose automatically turned to look for one of the few constellations she knew by heart and realized with a pang that Orion was no longer there. Neither was the Big Dipper.

Rose let out a breath, turning to make her way towards the far side of the car park, and sent out a mental prayer that perhaps tomorrow would be the night that she'd find him.


End file.
